


Heart Always Seems to Know

by aimmyarrowshigh



Series: #damereydaily2020 [32]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Jewish, Alternate Universe - Soon By You (TV) Fusion, F/M, Fate & Destiny, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 09:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22967617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimmyarrowshigh/pseuds/aimmyarrowshigh
Summary: We sow our truth, wait patiently.Poe Dameron is running late for his blind date.Two women are waiting for their blind dates to show up at the kosher deli.Fate chooses the table.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: #damereydaily2020 [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588336
Comments: 13
Kudos: 80
Collections: Damerey Daily 2020





	Heart Always Seems to Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beccaboom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beccaboom/gifts).



Poe was not the sort of person to curse under his breath, but if he _were_ , he would cuss up a blue streak right now, as he ran pell-mell down 86th street. 

Late! How could he be late? He was never late! It was a point of pride! But his dog had taken forever to do her business, greeting and sniffing every person in front of the JCC they passed on the afternoon walk—first day of sunshine and springtime after a long, cold winter; what harm could it cause, Poe had erroneously thought, to take a longer lap around the neighborhood and walk off his nerves—and now he was _fifteen minutes late_.

He stopped only once on his frantic sprint, when the still-chilly breeze pushed his yarmulke off his head and he had to pivot back and scoop it off the dirty sidewalk. He ran the rest of the way with one hand holding it to his head.

Poe skidded to a stop in front of Mazel, panting. He checked his reflection in the golden reflection of the front windows as the sun set overhead and was eternally grateful that there were no sweatstains ringing his underarms despite the four-block run. Maybe the remnant of winter in the air was good for something. And at least his blind date had agreed to meet here, Mazel, where Poe had been eating twice a week since before he could remember. He could run the route between here and his apartment in his sleep. Imagine if he had gotten lost, or worse, needed to find a cab?

Through the window, as he checked his hair in its gleam and patted it back into some semblance of place, a brunette woman in modest dress glanced from the menu in her hands up to the clock on the wall. 

Her shoulders slumped.

"Good enough," Poe murmured to his own reflection, and he pushed through the doors. The warm, rich aroma of kosher deli— _fried kreplach_ , whispered Poe's hindbrain, _chicken fricassee_ —swirled around him. He could do this. 

He approached the table where the slender, sole woman sat alone with her menu. She flipped the pages nervously between thin hands visibly callused from hard work—odd, hadn't Leia said that she was setting him up with a fashion student this time?

"Rachel?" 

Palpable relief infused the woman as she sat up straighter to look up.

Oh, no. 

She was _beautiful_.

"That's me. Rey," Rachel—Rey—said. "I was starting to think that you weren't coming."

"I'm so sorry." Poe pulled out the chair across from Rachel and her perfect face. "My dog was too excited about the weather and wouldn't let me leave. I swear I'm normally never late."

Rey's eyes lit up. "What kind of dog?"

"Round." 

Rey laughed. He made her laugh! "That's the best kind. I've always wanted a dog, but it’s hard to find apartments that allow them. You're lucky."

Poe smiled at the freckles whispering across her nose, at her bright eyes, at the fact that she'd sat here waiting. "I am. She's a good girl, even if she can't tell time."

Rey looked back down at her menu. "I've never been here, but I'm glad I skipped lunch. Everything smells amazing."

"It's all good," Poe assured her. "You really can't go wrong." He didn't need to open his menu to know what he wanted, so didn't. Silence fell between them, and it wasn't awkward, exactly, but this _was_ a set-up, so—"What do you do with your time?"

"I make things," Rey said. Her thumb ran over the skin of a bandage on her left-hand ring finger. "Small machines and, I guess you could call them inventions, but that sounds silly."

"I don't think so," Poe said. "I think that sounds creative. In a good way," he added, just in case. 

"My guardian, Avi, had Parkinson's," Rey explained, her eyes dimming a little. "I started inventing things that could help him around the house. Some of them worked well enough that he encouraged me to file for patents, and someday maybe—well, I'd like to partner with a foundation to get them to more people who need them."

"Avi Kenobi?" Poe had vague memories of the older man with white peyot and sad eyes, shaking uncontrollably in the back row of Rabbi Himmelvoker's final Shabbat service before he made aliyah and disappeared from the neighborhood. 

"Yes."

"I didn't know that he was gone," Poe said. "I'm sorry. I—I didn't think he had children."

"He didn't," Rey said. "Not until me. HIAS placed me with him when I was five. It's a long story. For another time."

"For another time," Poe agreed. He smiled at her, encouraging and soft, and she smiled back. She smiled back!

"And you're in law school?" Rey kept smiling at him.

"Oh—no," Poe said, furrowing his brow. "I'm finished with school."

"Oh! What kind of law do you practice?"

"I—I don't practice law," Poe said. "I'm sorry, you must have been told—I've never been a lawyer, and I didn't go to law school." He paused. "Is that a problem?"

"Not for me," Rey said. "So what _do_ you do, Mr. Not-a-Lawyer, Not-Esquire?"

Poe grinned. "You can't tell?" He gestured to himself with sheepish hands. "Guess."

"Well, you're not a lawyer, and you're definitely not a dog whisperer," Rey mused. She tapped her chin with one finger. "I'd guess that you're a pediatrician because you have kind eyes, but you don't smell like antiseptic. Maybe you're… a professor. A professor of astrophysics."

Poe laughed outright at that. "No! I was a pilot when I served, so I know how to fly, but the science of _how_ to fly? Beyond me. No, not an astrophysics professor."

"Why did you come back? After you served?"

"Oh, not—I served here, for the Air Force, just for one tour after high school. Both of my parents were in the US military, too, a notion about giving back for what they did to end the Nazis. I just did what the family expected." Poe shrugged uncomfortably. "I never had any belief in the fight, not what we do as a country now. But I did love to fly."

Rey's eyes were soft. "I can respect that. But you're not a pilot anymore?"

"No." Poe unconsciously drummed his fingers against his prosthetic leg under the tabletop. "Not a pilot anymore. Is that your third guess?"

"Third?" Rey sounded indignant. "It's my second! Not-a-lawyer and not-a-dog-whisperer were observations based on evidence, not guesses. My first guess was professor of astrophysics. We can count pilot as my second guess, but I could argue that it wasn't _really_ a guess, and since you're not a lawyer, I bet I would win."

Poe tried to hold back his grin. "I bet you would."

"I would." Rey sat back in her chair to survey him. "My second guess is that you… work for a nonprofit. You come from a family that values service, and you're educated but not a professor. At least not of astrophysics. And you have a service dog," she added gently. "So you understand the importance of assistance and outreach programs."

"I… yes, I have a therapy dog," Poe admitted. "And I work with a lot of nonprofits, but that isn't my job, no." He paused. "Is that what you do, when you're not inventing things? HIAS, right?"

"It is! It gives me more inspiration when I get home to my toolbox." She shook her head. "Too much, really. But like you, I want to give back—I've received so much and…" she waved her callused hands. 

"Gemilut Chassadim and tzedekah are the highest mitzvot." Poe's chest felt warm. "And I really admire what you do. I know Rabbi Himmelvoker thought the world of Avi Kenobi, and if he's who raised you to be the woman you are… I can understand that respect, even though I never really met him."

Rey's cheeks flushed behind her freckles, and she buried her face in her open menu again.

Poe opened his mouth to apologize for his forwardness; maybe lighten the mood with a joke and ask for her last guess about his job—

"Rachel?"

Poe and Rey both jumped at the intrusion of the strident, deep voice beside their table—definitely not the creaky voice of old Mazal Kattan-Ata or any of her soft-spoken, welcoming waitstaff. A tall, broad man with the beginnings of a dark beard, dark eyes, black yarmulke, and a black suit more expensive than the entirety of Poe's wardrobe towered over them. 

"Yes?" Rey said, her brow furrowed. 

"Sorry I'm late," the man said. Both of his hands landed on the back of Poe's chair, like he was prepared to pull it away from the table and sit down without even noting Poe's presence. "My assistant marked our date down for 7:00 instead of 6:00. You'll be relieved to know that he's been fired."

"Our—I'm sorry, you fired someone for marking a time incorrectly once? And what date? Who are you?" Rey folded the menu across her empty bread plate and scowled up at the interloper.

"Our date. The set-up. I'm Ben. You _are_ Rachel, no?"

"I… am. Rachel." Rey looked from the suited Ben to Poe in his pale green button-down and pressed slacks. "If you're Ben, then… I thought…"

"I'm David," Poe said, every organ in his chest and his gut sinking at once into one messy puddle in his feet. "David Polansky. Poe. My friends call me Poe."

"But you asked if I was Rachel?" Rey keeps looking between the two men. Her thumb works over the bandage on her ring finger in nervous tics, around and around.

"I'm supposed to be on a blind date here, tonight, with a Rachel…" Poe opened his text messages and showed Rey the date marked on his calendar. _6:00PM, Mazel, Rachel T. Cohen._ "Are you—you're not, are you." His stomach somehow sank further, below the linoleum flooring and into the subway tunnel below. "You're Rachel Kenobi."

" _My_ date," said Ben, still looming above Poe. "If you'll excuse us, David."

"Excuse me," said a small voice behind Rey. When Poe stood—reluctantly—to give his seat to Tall Lawyer Ben, he saw a petite, and very fashionable if as modestly dressed as Rey, girl with shiny black hair curled neatly at her chin. She had a half-eaten bowl of soup and an iPhone open to some fashion website on the table beside her.

She also had the same heart-shaped face as one of Poe's old friends from the Air Force, and he knew before she spoke again that he'd made a terrible mistake.

"Are you sure you were looking for _Rachel_ and not _Raizel_?" Rose—Raizel—Tran Cohen asked timidly. "Because I've been waiting for my date for almost an hour, and… well, Poe, my sister told me about you. I didn't realize that you were _that_ David Polansky, but…"

"Right." Poe felt oddly deflated without any organs left in his torso. At least the subway couldn't be _more_ of a disgusting mess, even with his heart oozing all over the tracks. "That makes sense… Leia mentioned that Yael's sister had moved to the city. I didn't make the connection… she always called you Rose."

"Most people do," Rose said. "But you know Leia."

"She's the only person who calls me David," Poe agreed. "I…" he looked from Rose to Rey. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make such a mess of both your nights."

"You didn't," Rey and Rose said in one voice, then looked at each other and smiled. 

"You didn't," Rey repeated. "It was nice to meet you, Poe."

"And there's still plenty of time for our date," Ben added, matching the smiles of the rest of the group—at least with his mouth. "It looks like you never even flagged down a waiter so the lady could eat."

"I don't mind eating alone," Rose added, looking up at Poe with a question he couldn't decipher. "It's nice to get a feel for my new neighborhood… looking and listening my new neighbors. Catching up on some homework." She gestured to the still-empty chair across from her at her small table. "You're welcome to join me though, of course!"

Poe swallowed. Nodded. Forced a smile. _For Yael, may her memory be a blessing._ "Of course, of course, and you have to let me make this horrible mistake up to you somehow."

Rose's smile brightened. She looked again between Poe and Rey. "I'll think of something."

"Rey, I'm—I'm sorry, again. It really was… so nice to meet you," Poe said, his heart aching. Was this not the definition of bashert, the way the whole universe had aligned to make sure that he and Rey met here, tonight? Bagel Baby taking too long on her walk, this Tall Lawyer Ben's assistant mismanaging a calendar, two names that sounded so alike sitting back-to-back in a loud restaurant, two people living their whole lives in the same small neighborhood of the same endless city and yet never meeting until this moment? 

Rey nodded. "It was nice to meet you, too. Don't be sorry."

And then Tall Lawyer Ben slid into the seat Poe left behind, and Poe couldn't even see Rey around his bulk when he sat down across from Rose at her table.

Yael Tran Cohen's little sister reminded him very much of his dead squadmate: determined, whip-smart, undeniably very pretty. But he would never have agreed to go on a date with _Yael's little sister_ , and it felt like salt in the wound. Still, he answered her questions and asked his own, laughed where it fit and commiserated in mourning about Yael—still, ten years on—before anything else. 

Rose waited until Tall Lawyer Ben's booming voice had been droning in a steady stream of soliloquy about his own virtues for a solid two minutes before she leaned across the table, closer to Poe. 

"You have to see Rey again," she said urgently. "You are going to try to get her phone number, aren't you?"

"I—what? She's here with someone else." A tall lawyer, no less. The person she had actually been set up on a date with, so at least someone out there thought they would make a good match.

Even if Poe vehemently disagreed.

"She looks miserable," Rose pointed out. "Be subtle."

Poe craned his neck to look at Rey around Tall Lawyer Ben's shoulder. She was staring at her plate, empty except a few shreds of dill and the last drops of brown juice from a roast chicken she must have inhaled—had Poe been unbearably rude not to let her order sooner, like Ben said? Or was Rey trying to leave her date as quickly as possible?—frowning, thumb working her bandage like she hoped to start a fire.

"You're good for each other," Rose added. "I _was_ listening to my new neighbors, you know. Which means I was eavesdropping on you two."

"Yael did always say her younger sister was a pest," Poe said, but smiled wryly. "Always listening in on her."

"It's one of my specialties. And another is knowing when something's not right, and no offense intended, Poe, but you and I are never going to be right. It's nice—wonderful—to get to talk so much about Yael with someone who really knew her, but…"

"I know," Poe agreed. "I'm sorry, though, to waste your time."

"You didn't, really," Rose said. "This is exciting. A mission! To help you find her again. Do you think I should spill soup on Ben?"

"No." Poe held up both palms. "He seems… litigious." 

"True. True. I can try to leave when Rey does and catch her?"

"Rose, you don't need to do anything for me," Poe said. "First I stood you up, and then—"

"It's for me, too," Rose said. "You'll owe me a favor. And I _am_ new in town. I could use a friend, and she seems really great. Really."

"She does." Poe's murmur was more to himself than to Rose. He sighed. "Alright, if you're sure. In the meantime, can I buy you a dessert? Anything more to eat?"

Poe picked listlessly at his flanken-in-the-pot as Rose told him about going to fashion school while frum and ate two whole pieces of seven-layer cake. He nodded where her cadence changed and made encouraging noises when she paused. He tried hard not to look up at the back of Tall Lawyer Ben's head, hoping it would disappear so he could see Rey.

And then—

"Oh!" Poe didn't mean to _squeak_ , but it still happened. "They're gone!"

"Oh, no!" Rose turned around in her seat. "I thought I'd notice when he finally stopped talking about himself and I could—I'm sorry, Poe. I really did think you two would be good for one another. Maybe you'll find her on your own. New York isn't _that_ big."

Poe had to laugh. What other choice did he have? 

Maybe Bagel Baby was the only soulmate he really had.

"Maybe," Poe said, although his heart was still flopping limply on the Q train tracks below. 

"Besides—" Rose affected a Tevye theatrical accent—"If it's meant to be, it will be!"

Poe had to smile at the way Rose's hopeful grin made her look so much like her older sister. "You're right. And thank you, Rose, for being so incredibly nice about all of this. I can't imagine anyone else being okay with how tonight's turned out for you. Is there anything else I can get for you? Another piece of cake?"

Rose groaned and patted her stomach. "No, please."

"An Alka-Seltzer?"

Rose laughed. "Not yet. I'm still young, old man."

Poe shook his head wryly and signaled for the waiter to bring him their bill. 

Ancient Mazal—Maz—herself brought it instead, leaning heavily on her cane. She pinched Poe's cheek.

"You know, bubbeleh, live long enough, and you should start to see the same eyes in different people." She handed Poe the check folder and then set a Have A Nice Day! bag on the tabletop, its contents fragrant with onion and fat. "You tell my grandson to give me a phone call and eat this, he's too busy and he needs to eat. And you!" She turned to Rose. "Yael Tran Cohen, may her memory be a blessing, I never met her, but pictures I've seen quite a few, and you're even prettier. Such nice pink cheeks. Isn't she pretty, David?"

Poe nodded, because Mazel didn't actually want an answer. 

Maz pinched Rose's cheek, too, and then looked at Poe with unusually serious eyes. "Bashert does not mean 'soulmate,' Poechik. It means _destiny_. It's not supposed to be easy."

With that she was gone, voice booming as she rounded on another one of her dinner guests to rain down pronouncements and compliments that somehow felt less than and more than all at once.

"So that was Maz," Poe said to Rose. "If you don't come in at least once a week from now on, she'll take it as a grave insult."

"Hey, as long as she keeps that cake on the menu, I'll be here." Rose reached for her purse. "Are you sure you want to pay? This wasn't really a date, in the end, and—"

"No, please," Poe covered the check folder with both hands. "That's my fault, anyway, and besides, you're still a student. I'm happy to take it, and I'll walk you to the subway."

"Thank you, Poe." Rose stood. "I'm going to wash my hands."

When she was gone, Poe opened the black leatherette folder to leave cash.

On top of the bill was a torn slip of paper placemat, rushed letters looping across it in messy blue ink.

_I never got my third guess. I have a question for you… Rabbi? 555-212-7787_

Poe's heart zoomed faster than the train thundering below as it leapt back into his chest. He ran his fingertips over the cramped, round lettering before carefully placing the note in his wallet behind his MetroCard.

Maybe destiny wasn't meant to be easy… but it was meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fusion/AU of the TV show _Soon By You_ on YouTube! Finn will appear in Part 2 (he's obviously Poe's roommate, Rose's soulmate, and Maz's grandson who needs to eat more.)


End file.
